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Sustainability matters: The concept of
stadium sustainability has shifted from an
economic focus to an environmental issue
While all sports architects
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and sports projects are
concerned with issues of
sustainable design, it is
difficult to call a venue truly
sustainable unless the overall holistic
equation of sustainability is addressed.
Without a city that has an extensive public
transport network to get to and from the
game, a clean power grid or a food strategy
that is fully sustainable, the equation does
not add up. Twenty years ago, a venue’s sole
sustainability requirement was an economic
one, not environmental. It was about the
financial health of the club in the Pay TV age.
Today, however, sports venues are having
to be retrofitted or renovated to meet
modern environmental sustainability
demands. The first wave of refurbishments
and rebuilds of venues that were delivered
on a purely economic basis, as opposed to
a longevity, flexibility or sustainability basis
and are not meeting the criteria to advance
with these goals.
The Johan Cruijff Arena (formerly the
Amsterdam Arena) has managed to outlive
its economic objectives as its core design
with a retractable roof is able it provide it
the flexibility to be more than simply a soccer
stadium, making it a long-term asset and
viable economic solution.
The more the merrier
The same situation is now seen by Cox
Architecture in Australia where venue owners
recognize that the ultimate sustainable goal
is met by delivering more events. Designing
a stadium that is multi-purpose and flexible
from its opening day is able to drive more
events to the venue, which can deliver
both a better economic and environmental
return due to the fact the building is being
used more. The more event days a venue
can host that make use of the entire facility,
the better. Stadia in Australia that host
between 56-80 home games per year are far
more sustainable than, for example, an NFL
stadium which has one primary purpose.
Optus Stadium in its first year of operation
hosted over 300 events welcomed two
million fans (1.2 million of those Australian
Rules Football fans), and staged Taylor Swift
and Ed Sheeran concerts. With all this, it still
diverted 77% of all waste from landfill.
Of course, an increasing number of clients
are also wanting to control and reduce
energy consumption. The less water and
power a venue uses the more economic it
is, so reducing these operating costs is the
primary objective, which is then followed
by the desire for a reduced carbon footprint.
Stadium operating economics has moved
from simply people through the gates, to
now being concerned with the lowest
energy cost, the lowest water usage and
lowest consumption of food packaging
and wastage of food.
Cox regards this is as sustainability in
the age of the experience economy. It is
these objectives that Cox considers far more
worthwhile pursuing than the certificate
of a LEED Gold or Platinum rating which,
while a good incentive, is something that
fans won’t necessarily recognize or impact
their experience. n
Optus Stadium offers its
operators both an economic
and environmental return
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